On the eve of the Shangyuan Festival in the early 28th year of the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, was as lively as ever, whether it was Zhuque Street or various squares, they put up lanterns one after another, and arranged the lanterns to be used on the night of the Shangyuan Festival, so that they looked like a peaceful and prosperous world. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Pingkangfang Taibai Restaurant, at this moment, the first floor of the crowded crowd of people on weekdays only has a few tables, and there is no festive appearance in the festival at all, whether it is the shopkeeper or the shopkeeper, they are all trembling and shrinking in the counter, their faces are full of nervous looks. You know, this is the Taibai Restaurant located in Pingkangfang, among the many restaurants and tea shops in Chang'an, it is a relatively high-end consumption place, and regardless of its close proximity to the good location of the East Market, its proprietor is an existence that ordinary people dare not provoke. However, at this moment, the usually high-spirited shopkeeper and the juniors are like deflated eggplants, and they have no energy at all.

The reason is from their proprietor, Li Jin, the idle king who has just been named the king of the west. Half a month ago, Li Jin, who was then the assassin of Yizhou, presented a seven-colored crystal glass cup to Emperor Xuanzong when he entered the palace to report on his work, and it is said that Emperor Xuanzong, who had been unable to sleep for several days after using this glass cup, could sleep until noon the next night every night, and the court meeting had to be postponed for several days. Emperor Xuanzong Dayue, then ordered Li to be transferred into Chang'an, the king of Xixian, one is the emperor's son-in-law, belongs to the emperor's family, and the other he has been in the local service for several years, and it should be time for him to return to Beijing to enjoy the blessings.

This is a good thing to say, but it also makes Li Jin have an unusually headache. Originally, he was the henchman of the crown prince Li Heng, and with his financial resources in Yizhou, he supported several large expenses of the prince's henchmen, and the prince himself helped him do a lot of shady things, but after so many years, the prince did not mention him at all. The reason for this, he himself knows very well that when he is still in Yizhou, he can still have a considerable income, but once he returns to Beijing, they will lose their important source of income, how can the prince let him return to Beijing. So whenever he returned to Beijing to report on his work, the prince always gave him a haha.

But this time he really couldn't wait, his daughter Xiping County Lord was already nine out of ten, and she had already reached the age when she should get married, and the threshold of the Yizhou house was about to be broken by the proposal. But how can he look down on the ordinary people in those places, and the third son of Jiannan Jiedu makes Zhang Yu Jianqiong look good, but he still wants to find a better in-law for his daughter, and the emperor's relatives are naturally the most suitable. Seeing that the New Year was approaching, he finally made a decision that changed his life, and after reporting to Emperor Xuanzong, he quietly met with Li Linfu, the right-hand minister of power, in Zhongshu Province through the introduction of Chen Xilie, the left minister, and explained to him his decision to abandon the prince and join the Xiangguo Party, and at the same time he was willing to use all his family property to help the Xiangguo Party in the court.

Not to mention that he has taken root in Jiannan for many years, his income from a few restaurants in Chang'an and Jiangnan alone is enough for countless ministers to covet.

It's just that it is nothing compared to his Li Linfu's assets. What he wants is not Li Jin's assets, but his beautiful daughter, the lord of Xiping. It is said that she is beautiful and good at piano and chess, and none of the countless children of Jiannan want to bow down under his pomegranate skirt, but no one can enter her eyes. I heard from Chen Xilie that the crown prince Li Heng has always had the idea of letting his eldest son, Li Li, the king of Guangping, marry the lord of Xiping, but Li Li has been unwilling to obey because of his sweetheart, and Li Jin's idea of returning to Beijing has been suppressed by Li Heng, so it has never been done. But his second son, Li Yuan, has always admired the lord of Xiping, and has talked to him several times for this matter.

In this case, he might as well be a favor, in a certain day, in the great dynasty, proposed that Li Jin, the king of Xixian, has been an official in Jiannan for many years, and he is looking forward to returning to Chang'an, which enshrines the ancestral mourning hall, and he has been an official for many years.

At that time, Emperor Xuanzong's insomnia was cured by the glass cup, and he was in a good mood, and he was lacking Li Jin's favor. Thinking about Li Jin, as the concubine of Emperor Rang, he has been in the place for so many years, and he is indeed a little sorry for his eldest brother. So he happily approved this resolution, but there was no vacancy suitable for his identity in the capital, so he was named King Yongping, and ordered to return to Beijing immediately, and Shi Li Daofu, the former governor of Yizhou, took over the post of assassin Shi.

At this order, the prince's henchmen were all in an uproar and were inexplicably frightened. The sudden defection of a major source of income to the Xiangguo Party made the already unbalanced balance tilt a few points towards Li Linfu's side, plus they were all familiar with the temper of the crown prince Li Heng, and knew that he would never let Li Jin go.

Li Jin naturally knew that the prince would not let him go, so after returning to Beijing, he had been hiding in the house of Yankangfang and living in seclusion, fearing that he would be killed by the assassins if he was not careful. But he didn't expect the prince to do anything to himself, and ten days passed without incident, which made his originally nervous heart gradually relax. Who would have thought that two days ago, something happened that shocked the East Market.

Two days ago, the Taibai Restaurant, which is a big source of his wealth, suddenly began to be haunted, and at night some people saw ghosts circling the restaurant downstairs, and the old man who played the watch was scared out of trouble that night, and the two guys who went to check on it have been missing since then. So that no one dared to come to the restaurant for a few days, but he couldn't say it, where is this haunted, it is obvious that the prince invited someone to deal with him. Although he knew what was going on, he had nothing to do, don't look at his title and official position, but in a place like Chang'an, it was nothing. It happened that he had some friendship with Jingzhao Yin Lu Song, so he asked him to solve the matter, who knew that Lu Song did not dare to offend the prince, and pushed the matter to Cui Guangyuan, the county commander of Wannian County, and Cui Guangyuan could only send his own subordinates to squat in the Taibai Restaurant.

The guests on the first floor mentioned earlier were these few plainclothes catchers.

At the table near the door, there was only a young man, although his appearance was a little heroic, but he did not have the noble temperament of the emperor's relatives; although he was a little handsome, he was not as sword-eyed and starry as the prodigal son of the rivers and lakes, and he was dressed in a simple cloth suit, which seemed to be an ordinary person. Others can't see that in his clothes, there is a sharp dagger hidden, not because he is a ranger on the streets of Chang'an, but a weapon used to control the enemy.

His table is really simple, a pot of tea, a plate of peanuts, and a plate of shallots mixed with tofu.

He was dissatisfied, but he couldn't have a seizure. I can only sigh that the shopkeeper of this restaurant is so stingy, not to mention the daily money, the brothers help him with things, but he fools us.

Seeing that the sun was about to go down, a middle-aged man who had just walked in attracted his attention, and the man who was also dressed in simple clothes looked around, and finally his gaze stayed on him. He walked straight to his table and sat down across from him.

"San Lang, it's not too early, I'll change shifts and keep an eye on it, you can go back and rest first. ”

The young man known as San Lang shook his head and said, "Uncle Jiu, although the time for this shift change is almost over, but if you think about it, several of them have slipped away, and you are the only one here, in case there are bad guys appearing, how can this be good?"

"Hahaha, Saburo said with a smile. Uncle Nine took a sip of tea and laughed: "Not to mention that in this broad daylight, in such a prosperous area of the East Market, which gangster dares to appear during the day? Who doesn't know the ability of Ye Saburo, the first sword in Chang'an? Otherwise, why do you think Li Er and Zhang Wang dare to slip away? Just you will top ten of them." ”

"This ......"

Uncle Nine waved his hand to stop him, and said: "You have been squatting for a day, it is time to go back and rest, don't look at Uncle Nine and my age, it is still more than enough to subdue a few haunted gangsters, you can go back with confidence." ”

Ye Saburo nodded.

"Okay, Uncle Nine, then I'll go back first, and I'll come and see it at the third watch. After speaking, Ye Sanlang stood up and walked out of the Taibai Restaurant.

The sun had already set halfway in the west, and only a faint afterglow was reflected in Chang'an City, and there were obviously fewer pedestrians on the streets. However, if it is a few days later, on the night of the Shangyuan Festival, the roof here will not be overturned. Several shops in the East Market also closed early, thinking that the bosses had long been unbearable to the little lady at home, and only a few relatively large shops still had guys busy outside.

As he was walking, there was a scolding voice in front of him.

"I told you that you are not accurate at all, and you dare to say that my house is more yin?! Isn't this a curse on me! If you don't get out, I'll really beat you half to death!"

"Uncle, you can do it, in order to do things for your house, the little mana I have has been exhausted, and I really don't have any money to eat, please do it." ”

What's the matter?, he muttered to himself, and he made a detour to a house.

I saw an old man with a goatee in an old Taoist uniform half-sitting on the ground, covered in ashes, with belongings scattered around him, and a middle-aged man in bright clothes was roaring at him. Presumably, this person came to the door to cheat money, but was kicked out.

Ye Saburo wanted to walk away directly, but a sudden trace of curiosity made him step forward, and it was his decision that changed everything for him and made him embark on another path.

"This official, I don't know what caused you to have a conflict with this Daoist?"

"What does this have to do with you?" the middle-aged man glared angrily.

The arrogant attitude of the other party made him a little annoyed, so he reached out and took out a small wooden plaque, and shook it in front of the man. "Catch Ye Saburo in Xia Wannian County, if you have something, just tell me. He looked at the Taoist next to him and said:

"It's the same with this master, if the other party treats you badly, you can also come to me. ”

Hearing his identity and name, the middle-aged man's face suddenly changed, but he quickly returned to normal, but this subtle action was captured by him.

"You are the first sword in Chang'an, Ye Jia Saburo?! I have heard of your name for a long time, and with you here, this old Taoist must not dare to entangle me anymore. ”

However, the man didn't seem to notice the conversation between the two, from beginning to end, he had been staring at Ye Sanlang's face, and when the man finished saying what he had just said, his face suddenly became surprised and inexplicable.

"The appearance of destroying the sky! You, you actually have the appearance of destroying the sky!"

Only then did he notice the Daoist and was suddenly curious, "Dao Chief, what did you just say about the appearance of destroying the heavens?"

After that moment of surprise, Lao Dao had already returned to his normal expression, and saw him pack up the belongings beside him and stand up.

"This official, although you are very rude, but my words before are indeed not appropriate, I will not charge you fees. After speaking, he looked at Ye Saburo and turned to leave.

"It's good to understand!" The man glared at him, turned his head and smiled at Ye Saburo, "It must be Ye Zhutou here, he knew that he was bored, so he slipped away." I have to thank Ye Catcher for being fast. After speaking, he took out half of the money and handed it to Ye Sanlang. "These five hundred Wenye catches are quickly regarded as a piece of my heart, and I will take them to eat some wine and food. ”

Ye Sanlang nodded, accepted the half of the money, and arched his hand to him: "I really don't dare to catch the head, I can't be a small official under the county order, and I will have to bother you neighbors to support me in the future." Then, Saburo took his leave. ”

Turning around, he walked in the direction of Yongle Fang, where his home was located.

When he disappeared around the corner of the street, the previous person suddenly appeared, stared closely at the direction he was walking, and muttered: "Chang'an's first sword Ye Sanlang, my obedient, this person, this person actually has the appearance of destroying the sky, if you pull him under my Longmen, why worry that my Longmen can't be carried forward." After saying that, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Look at the direction he came from, is it Taibai Restaurant?" Thinking of the rumors circulating on the street about Li Jin, the king of Yongping, and Li Heng, the crown prince, who had turned their faces, he suddenly had some ideas in his heart.